# Chapter 1
There’s an old saying that picking up and eating just anything will make you sick.
But isn’t that better than starving to death?
No matter what anyone said, that’s what Yeomin thought.
After all, most of Yeomin’s childhood memories were filled with being alone in an empty house, stomach growling with hunger.
‘Joo Yeomin, are you a beggar?’
His mischievous friends would wound his childhood pride.
‘Since you’re a beggar, you’d eat this too, right?’
A disgusting kid dropped his half-eaten screw bar ice cream onto the sandy ground.
That bastard…
Yeomin glared at him. Then, defiantly, he picked up the ice cream and put it in his mouth.
‘Delicious. Thanks, jerk.’
It was purely out of pride. Seeing his friends’ contorted expressions gave him a sense of vindication in his young heart.
That half-melted ice cream he ate back then. The taste of sand granules grinding between his teeth. Yeomin would never forget it for the rest of his life.
‘Do childhood memories of hunger engrave themselves so deeply into your bones?’
Even now as an adult, Yeomin couldn’t stand to see food go to waste.
He would casually eat the lunch boxes his classmates left behind. Others asked why he ate so foolishly, but he just couldn’t throw food away. It felt like committing a sin.
That wasn’t all.
Yeomin had no problem using things others had used. He was obsessed with free giveaways, and all his college textbooks were hand-me-downs from seniors.
Even the earphones he was using now were passed down from a friend who bought wireless ones, and the department jacket he wore like a uniform was given to him by a senior from his academic society.
At some point, using new things started to feel strange to him.
Recently, Yeomin had developed a hobby. It was collecting discarded coffee cup holders while walking through the alleys.
Maybe “side job” was a better word than hobby? If you collected twenty and brought them in, they’d exchange them for a cup of coffee.
Since it was easy to be misunderstood as rummaging through trash in broad daylight, Yeomin would wander around looking for cup holders in the early evening, like taking a stroll.
Today too, Yeomin left his rented room for his final task of the day and tied his sneaker laces.
The weather had been gloomy since daytime, and the clouds looked like they might pour down rain at any moment, making Yeomin anxious.
Just then, ‘BOOM!’ thunder struck.
“Damn it. I should’ve brought an umbrella. I can’t let the cup holders get wet…”
That’s when Yeomin’s radar detected illegally dumped coffee cups. Someone must have drunk as a group and thrown them away—there were as many as four cups.
‘Jackpot!’
Yeomin sprinted with his eyes fixed solely on the coffee cups. He almost tripped over someone’s feet and nearly rolled across the asphalt.
His desperate reflexes saved him from such an embarrassing fate, but his heart was still racing.
“Shit, you scared me… What the? It’s a person.”
Focused only on the cup holders, he hadn’t noticed there was someone there.
It wasn’t even that late yet, but the figure crouched next to the streetlight and pile of trash was…
Obviously wasted.
‘Tsk tsk. Should’ve known when to stop drinking.’
Yeomin clicked his tongue inwardly while quickly separating the cups from the holders. The drunk person remained motionless, head bowed deeply.
‘He’ll only learn his lesson when he gets robbed.’
One, two, three, four…
As he tucked the cup holders into his pocket, Yeomin felt like he was floating with happiness.
If he collected enough, he could have a cup of coffee next week.
That’s when it happened.
Just as he was about to leave, Yeomin’s eyes caught sight of a cup holder the drunk person was sitting on.
‘Awesome!’
Yeomin’s eyes lit up. He quickly crouched down next to the drunk and pulled at the cup holder trapped under the man’s butt.
But it was impossible to get it out with the weight pressing down on it.
Yeomin called out to him.
“Excuse me. Student.”
Isn’t it exam period these days? Who drinks this much during exam period?
“Student, wake up. If you sleep here, your face will get paralyzed.”
“Mmm…”
“If you’re not getting up, at least move aside, ugh!”
Trying with all his might was useless.
He really didn’t want to touch the guy, but he had no choice…
Yeomin lightly pushed the drunk person’s shoulder with his finger.
‘Wait, if I push him away, he should move away, not come toward me!’
“Gasp!”
Yeomin suddenly found himself making eye contact with the drunk, who had opened his eyes.
‘His eyelashes are really long.’
That was the absurd thought that crossed his mind, as the man’s features were so refined. Then, those eyes, delicate as if drawn with a fine brush, curved as he smiled broadly.
‘Wait, this guy…’
Yeomin finally recognized his face. It was Seol Jiho, a junior from the same department, one year younger.
Even drunk, Jiho seemed to recognize Yeomin too.
“Sunbae Joo Yeomin…?”
With hundreds of students in Sehyeon University’s Global Business College, it was difficult for seniors and juniors to have close relationships.
Moreover, Jiho wasn’t even the type to actively participate in school activities. That’s why Yeomin was surprised that Jiho knew his name.
“Ah, just in case you misunderstand, I wasn’t trying to do anything weird…”
Fearing he might be mistaken for a thief, Yeomin quickly explained himself, almost like he was rapping. But his words were soon interrupted by Jiho’s mumbling.
“I want to… misunderstand.”
What did he say?
Yeomin could see clearly as Jiho slowly closed and opened his eyes. That’s how close their faces were.
“…Sunbae.”
“Huh?”
“I’m thirsty.”
With those words, instead of reaching for a water bottle, Jiho pressed his lips against Yeomin’s.
The soft, lukewarm feeling on his lips left Yeomin frozen for about three seconds. Then, when Jiho began moving his lips and sucking on Yeomin’s lower lip, he snapped back to reality.
“Mmph mmm…! (What the hell!)”
Yeomin hastily tried to pull his head back. But either because he was thoroughly drunk or completely insane, Jiho grabbed Yeomin’s collar and pulled him in.
At the same time, Yeomin’s mind went blank as something soft invaded his mouth with an unfamiliar sensation. And then his mind was immediately filled with rage.
‘This crazy bastard!’
Jiho had his eyes closed as if savoring Yeomin’s lips.
What a weird drunk habit.
Yeomin blindly reached out his hand, feeling around him.
And grabbing whatever his fingertips touched, he struck Jiho’s head without hesitation.
“You crazy bastard, my first kiss…!”
He thought he had hit him gently. But Jiho’s body tilted over and collapsed onto the pile of trash.
Yeomin alternately looked at the unconscious Jiho’s face and the children’s baseball bat in his hand. Someone must have put it out to throw away.
Yeomin’s heart sank. Why did he have to grab this of all things! He should have swung a cotton pillow or a broom instead.
“…He’s not dead, is he?”
As if denying reality, Yeomin placed his finger under Jiho’s nose, who hadn’t moved an inch. He felt a faint breath.
Phew. Thank goodness. Relieved, Yeomin prepared to bolt. Even in this situation, he didn’t forget to grab that last cup holder.
“…”
‘There are no witnesses, right?’
Yeomin jumped up and looked around, only to make eye contact with a CCTV camera attached to a utility pole.
“Damn it.”
Suddenly, gossip his classmates had shared during a drinking session flashed through Yeomin’s mind.
‘Seol Jiho? I heard rumors he’s connected to the Ian Group. Did you see he changed his car again recently? The doors open upward and everything.’
‘Don’t lie. Do you think chaebols are that common in our country?’
‘It’s true. Turn on the TV. He looks exactly like the CEO of Ian. That family is known for avoiding media exposure, so it’s just not official… Probably when he gets older, Seol Jiho will appear in the media too?’
The rumor that Seol Jiho was the son of an extremely wealthy family with a silver spoon in his mouth.
‘What if I just leave Seol Jiho here and that CCTV footage gets leaked? Would the Ian Group just let it go?’
He’d be caught red-handed. Imagining himself rotting in prison for 36 years, Yeomin felt dizzy.
Having driven Yeomin into this hell, Jiho was lying there with a peaceful expression like Sleeping Beauty.
Of course, this wasn’t a forest but a pile of trash, and Jiho was too muscular to be a princess. Moreover, there probably wouldn’t be a prince on a white horse coming to wake Jiho up in this neighborhood.
If he left him here…
“…”
While Yeomin was lost in thought, he suddenly felt something cold touch his cheek.
The sky had been cloudy for a while, and now raindrops were finally starting to fall.
‘What if I run away and Seol Jiho gets rained on and comes down with hypothermia?’
That would be entirely his fault too.
Yeomin regretted his quick thinking in swinging the toy bat. He blamed the unknown person who had left the bat there in the first place.
No, he blamed himself for going around picking up cup holders in the first place.
“…”
He didn’t have a choice anyway.
Groaning with effort, Yeomin hoisted Jiho onto his back. His plan was to take him home and clear up the misunderstanding once Jiho woke up. If that didn’t work, he’d get on his knees and beg if necessary.
“Haa… you’re so damn heavy.”
Jiho was so tall that he completely covered Yeomin’s body.
His legs were shaking. Jiho’s legs, which had gradually slipped down, were practically dragging on the ground.
‘And I had such a meager dinner too…’
He felt like he had already burned through all his calories. Although the massive weight bearing down on him was overwhelming, Yeomin gritted his teeth.
The raindrops falling from the sky felt like his own tears.
What if this guy, once sober, refuses to let me off the hook? What if he demands I pay his medical bills…? No, will he even wake up in the first place? If he doesn’t wake up, wouldn’t that be the biggest problem?
His head felt like it was about to explode with complications.
Meanwhile, with each step he took, Jiho’s lips kept brushing against the back of Yeomin’s neck, making his skin crawl.
“This is truly maddening. Honestly, if you’re a young master, shouldn’t you have at least two or three bodyguards with you?”
Why was he out there alone in the first place? And why was he tormenting an ordinary citizen like me…
‘I want to… misunderstand.’
Yeomin recalled the fact that he had just lost his first kiss to this male junior currently on his back.
Whether this was his usual drunken behavior, or if his preferences leaned that way(?), was impossible to know. There were so many rumors about Jiho after all.
Joo Yeomin, who had gone out to collect cup holders to supplement his living expenses.
Trading one cup holder for his precious first kiss.
Whether the awakened Jiho would demand compensation or chop off his head was anyone’s guess. Either way, Yeomin just hoped he would wake up.
